This is a big trade deadline for Steve Tambellini and the Edmonton Oilers. The biggest prize available is within their grasp, and in this case "it's an honor just to be nominated" isn't good enough.

This appears to be a somewhat unique trade deadline, with NHL general managers willing to do "hockey trades" as opposed to rentals and waiver deals. Colorado and St. Louis made a blockbuster trade leading up to the deadline and Dallas and Pittsburgh did the same.

Is there a window for Steve Tambellini and Dean Lombardi to do the same? Maybe. Here's my list of 10 "for the Oilers" this weekend. Not all will be available, and some play for teams that don't plan to offload anyone. Still, there's value here and if available one hopes ST is on the phone.

BIG TIME

D Zach Bogosian: I know Jim Matheson has an article up on the EJ, but I'm not stealing from him. ON readers will remember that we discussed this player a couple of weeks ago (here). This is a young D with size and some crust PLUS he’s being used in more of a defensive role in Atlanta. There have been rumors about his unhappiness in Georgia and if there’s a hint of an opportunity then that’s the guy to target. Ideal acquisition for the Oilers. Edmonton has a spot on their PP to make the young man happy and he's that stud on the blue the club needs badly.

L Nikolai Kulemin: Possibly the Leafs best player. He’s responsible, skilled and isn’t a wallflower. 6.01, 225 and plays hard all the time. Burke is unlikely to give up this player easily, but you have to give in order to get and the Leafs are known to be interested in Dustin Penner and have knocked on the door in regard to Andrew Cogliano in the past.

C Braydon Schenn: If the Oilers deal Hemsky, then surely Steve Tambellini will have had the courage of his convictions and the steel of his words over the last couple of weeks. If you’re going to make the roster younger, then potential is the watch word and no other prospect available (that I’ve read about) has the potential of Schenn. A kid line of Schenn-Hall-Eberle is something to get excited about for 11-12.

C Kyle Turris: He’s still a kid and is showing progress. Turris has a nice 5x5/60 total (2.26, 17th overall among NHL centermen) and above 50% on the dot. Still a ways to go, but he has draft pedigree and might come at a good price at the deadline.

D Michael Del Zotto: Good size with plus speed and offensive ability. He’s struggled this season but that’s the only reason he might be available. Can make big hits and is an expert outlet passer. Rangers gave the Oilers a big lift during the 91-94 rebuild, maybe they’ll do it again.

SOLID

C Stephen Weiss: I know he’s not an impact center, but he’s an experienced player with some nice secondary numbers. He’s in the leagues top 15 centers for relCorsi and helps offensively. I know his skills are duplicated on the roster but this gives the team more experience at center. Plus he’s 54% in the faceoff dot and is facing the toughest competition according to behind the net.

C Brian Boyle: He’s 6.07, 252. He’s a natural center and he’s having a breakout season. He’d come at a high cost but the Oilers need a guy like him. Can win faceoffs (48% on a team that is collectively poor at the discipline) and he’s making a little more than 500k.

F Andreas Nodl: He has size and a nice range of skills. Lacks natural offensive talent but he’s playing tough competition and flourishing. Some of it might be because of his linemates and the quality of the team he’s playing for, but he’s at the very least worth checking out.

D Mark Fayne: I don’t know a lot about him but the guy is huge and is posting good numbers as a rookie. Maybe the best player nobody knows about in the entire league.

D Sami Lepisto: Young veteran who has good puck skills. Doesn’t play the tough opposition with PHX but he plays a lot and is effective. He hasn’t posted big numbers in the NHL but he isn’t on the PP a lot either. 2 minutes a night on the PK.

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True. But getting a guy like Bogosian for Gagner would be highway robbery ( for the Oilers ).

Based on what? Bogosian's long list of accomplishments as a defenseman in the NHL?

At worst, the two players are having analagous impacts for their clubs. Gagner is leading all Oiler centres in scoring while playing with 2 rookies, and Bogosian has all the Tools to be a lot better than he's been but is playing (getting eaten alive) against better opposition.

If the team that drafted him 3rd overall is ready to give up on him now, what does that say about him?

I hope that management has a good read on whether Hemmer and Penner really want to stay for another four or five years. If they do, I would only trade them if the deal blew the roof off the place. If it appears that they really would like to be somewhere else, this is probably the height of their value. Schenn is the real deal and would be of huge piece of the picture going forward. As for Bogosian, would he want to come here and commit for the long term? Having a real high end player who is a malcontent wouldn't do us any good. If they do trade for him, I hope they will have done their homework as to character issues. I don't know much about him so this is more of a question than a statement. Does anyone have any insight into this?

I can see trading Vandermeer. If we wanted him back, we could try to resign him at a lower salary in the summer. As for Smid, I really hope we don't trade him him. He is a decent 5/6 Dman, he wants to be here, he is a good team guy who is well-liked in the room, he brings some toughness and his price is reasonable. The way some people react to Smid sort of reminds me of how they reacted to Reasoner. He had a lot of the same qualities, but lots of people denigrated him. Now we look back and say he would be a good guy to have on the team.

Boyle looks great, but could we pry him out of NY? What about Chris Neil? He is expensive, but he is signed for two more years, and he would bring a lot of grit that we sorely need. Another guy I would really like us to go hard for is Knopka. He is a UFA @ the end of the season and is currently making 600K. I would try to deal for him now and then sign him to a 3 or 4 year deal and overpay him if necessary, say at $900 000 or $1 000 000 per year.

I would not deal Marcinin. I saw him when he was here with PG and he is impressive. Great skater and range and makes it look easy. Sort of reminds me of how Pronger covers the ice. He will be a cornerstone when we make the big move in a few years.

Great show on 1260 Lowetide. I really like the Bruins blogger you had on the first show. I hope you can have him on fairly regularly. You've got a good formula going. Keep it up.

LT: with our greater depth at LW then RW, would a deal with Penner to LA be able to pry Schenn away? Would Penner, Omark and Smid get it done for Schenn and one of their D prospects? Or would that be a massive overpay on our part?

After seeing both Schenn and Couturier on the same team this last Christmas, I take Schenn anyday over Couturier.....Schenn-sational(sorry couldnt help myself)

Considering Schenn is almost 2 years older then Couturier, you would expect a better player. But consider this Schenn didn't make the WJ team until he was eighteen, were Couturier was seventeen when he made his. Also if Schenn was such a great player, why isn't he playing in the NHL. I'm not saying Schenn's not going to be a good player, I just think Couturier would be a better fit for the Oilers.

This is going to be "Mr. Negative", but I'm sorry I am nearly spitting out my coffee here.

People who, in the same post, talk about needing to keep Hemsky, Penner, Smid....then mention Bogosian or...really anyone in the whole league really need to wander back to this place we call 'reality'.

The Oilers have NO ONE else that is of interest to anyone.

Cogliano? Hilarious. No thanks.
Gagner? Sure, here's a 2nd rounder.

If you want changes to this team this year, you really have to give your heads a shake.

Whats up with Omark, scratched two games in a row..is it something to do with the hits he took in his last game or what..I wasnt playing any worse than half the team...is he maybe on the block, have the Oilers promised to Only practice him to another team because they already did their scouting report and dont want him injured and are just waiting for another deal to be confirmed so that they can pull the trigger on this one..or what..
If, IF they do move Omark..it better be for either a blue-chip prospect, a young veteran Defenceman or Center with top six potential plus a 2nd rounder, OR, for at least a 1st round draft pick..

Otherwise..Omark is a Gem that you just dont give up on after 30 games..
Who knows..maybe LA is wanting both Omark+Hemsky for Shenn..if yes, I say LA needs to throw in a draft pick and consider it done.

I think they sitting omark waiting to making space for him!If they dont move some people before deadline i think omark is gone next year, he doesnt take a demotion for waiver reasons and missing wc because of that.

I did say that they should be traded if management felt they wouldn't re-sign here and that their highest trade value is probably at its highest now. I also said one or both could be traded if the deal was exceptional, e.g. Hemsky plus other assets for Schenn. As for Smid, who could you get in a trade for him that would bring equivalent value with all of the character traits that he has, at his price point? I wouldn't want to trade Smid for a pick that may or may not become a player we could use.

maybe Schenn's not playing in the NHL now because, as we saw with Eberle last year, the club wants him to finish out HIS season on any team but the big club...maybe until he's done done, possibly after the first place in the WHL Blades contend for the Memorial Cup and if the Kings go deep in the playoffs he could maybe travel and maybe practice some but any team would want and prefer for the kid to start his career fresh,right from the start of a season. as far as fit is concerned ...Schenn plays on a line with our Curtis Hamilton so that's even better reason to fit Schenn here.

@Q...apparently not enough of an overpayment...maybe just maybe Lombardi goes for PRV, the highlight reel kid and Brule as well...sh!t throw in 13, 2 and strudwick...i wouldn't trade the first pick for anyone now...

That, or LA wanted to differ another year on his ELC. The Kings can't even use him in the playoffs after his junior club is done, one more game this season brings him to 10 effectively wasting that first year, doesn't it?

@ Q ...dunno..i thought he only played two games as a King... the ELC advantage does make waaay more sense.

our GM needs to show himself and the franchise well tomorrow,whether he makes a deal or not, those tv msm panel types in the studio in the big apple can be brutal... at the end of the day arrows need to point up!

...as Bombastic Bob Stauffer would say would you agree with that statement?

I wonder if there would be any consideration to trading our 1st round pick and Hemsky for Schenn, LA's 1st round pick and another prospect. The catch would be our 1st round pick would be for 2012. The 2012 draft is projected to be deeper than this years so that should appeal to LA, but we would acquire the #1 center we desperately need and still get a couple picks in the top 20 this year to speed up the rebuild process.

@ Q ...dunno..i thought he only played two games as a King... the ELC advantage does make waaay more sense.

our GM needs to show himself and the franchise well tomorrow,whether he makes a deal or not, those tv msm panel types in the studio in the big apple can be brutal... at the end of the day arrows need to point up!

...as Bombastic Bob Stauffer would say would you agree with that statement?

Depends on what is under the Christmas tree for Oiler fans tommorow. I do agree, most may be expecting sumfin special to happen. If Steve moves out Penner or Hemsky an receives something without the similar curb appeal back, many will be upset. Maybe we were better off if Tambellini did, well, like the Penguin from the old school Batman programs used to say......run silent, run deep tommorow and wait for another day.

Do you know how long Stu MacGregor has worked for the Oilers? YOu say in the last thread that he was the GM of Kamloops Blazers in the WHL, but has he been an amateur scout for the Oilers since when?

JUst wondering if he was on the staff that picked Pouliot and Niinimaki.

He arrived in 2000, in time for the Mikhnov draft (2000) I'd expect. However, one doubts he had a massive impact right away, so Hemsky's selection (or Niinimaki's) can't be tied to him imo unless we have some evidence.

Which I don't. I also know he covered the west (WHL, NCAA, tier 2) early on.

So I guess when Hallsy hits the ripe old age of 27, we'll have to trade him for beans, because, you know, his value will never be higher.
It feels like the 90's again, where we develop the young players for other teams to pluck in their prime.

Exactly, 90's re-lived...I've said the same thing. It's like an endless carousel with fans wanting to wait until our best players are our best players, still in their prime and wanting to move them out for the next shiny young player or the always popular draft pick.

You know, sell high, so to speak. Will we ever decide to keep em when their high rather than sell em?

I'd love to hear why the Kings would deal Schenn for something that doesn't make them better today.

Maybe Paajarvi isn't a name they expected would be available. Lombardi did say it would take something significant to have Schenn included, could be the starting point for a larger/future deal.... maybe Hemsky,Paajarvi in exchance for Schenn,Simmonds and a top prospect, who knows where this train goes. There has to be something i've written here you can squish under your runner though OB1, isn't there?

~i'm next~ OB1...they're no better off 'today' with him where he is ... why wouldn't L.A. want a 91 and a 23 and a 67 ...today...is that not 'better today' good enough for them ? how 'bout Richards,that would be right...right? if it weren't for his melon issues... Dallas would be getting fleeced for at least as long as it took Schenn to be "voila"...i'm not convinced that Lombardi has the stones if he is the last say... have the Kings ever had a 5th overall pick in their stable?...he's being protected $$$ like crazy over the top,so imo it's not all smoke&mirrors...he should be openly actively pursued in the morro.

our GM's not doing badly with our first overall as long as he stays outta the way...and does what he's told...

I would push hard to get Bogosian if he's available, if he isn't acquired tommorow I call it failure for Tambo, the defense is NFG and we can move some forwards or prospects out to land Zach. If you can get Turris out of Pheonix do it, Gagner should be moveable to acquire Turris, if it takes more still do it. We have another lottery pick coming and small forwards, sacrifice can be made. Step up or move out.